Single Board Computer News - CNX Software

September 28, 2023September 29, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 91 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 SBC launched with 2.4 GHz Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 SoC

The long-awaited Raspberry Pi 5 SBC is finally here with a powerful Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 processor clocked at 2.4 GHz, 4GB or 8GB memory, and the usual Raspberry Pi Model B form factor. The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B was introduced in June 2019, so it took over four years to get a new model, and the Raspberry Pi 5 should deliver 2 to 4 times the performance, compete directly with Raspberry Pi-shaped Rockchip RK3588S SBCs such as the Radxa Rock 5A or Cool Pi 4 Model B and benefit from a larger community and better software support. Raspberry Pi 5 specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2712 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor @ 2.4 GHz with crypto extensions, 512KB per-core L2 caches, 2MB shared L3 cache GPU – VideoCore VII GPU @ 800 MHz with support for OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.2, 4Kp60 HEVC decoder System Memory – 4GB […]

September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of Youyeetoo Rockchip RK3568 SBC with Lubuntu 20.04 and the RKNPU2 AI SDK

We’ve already reviewed the Rockchip RK3568-power Youyeetoo YY3568 SBC with Android 11 – and listed the specifications and checked out the hardware kit – in the first part of the review. We now had time to switch to Lubuntu 20.04, perform some basic tests, and also have a closer look at the RKNPU2 AI SDK for the built-in 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator found in the Rockchip RK3568 SoC. Installing Ubuntu or Debian on YY3568 SBC The company provides both Debian and Ubuntu images for the YY3568 SBC with different images depending on the boot device (SD card or eMMC flash) and video interface used (DSI, eDP, HDMI). Our YY3568 “Bundle 5” kit comes with an 11.6-inch eDP display so we’ll select the “Ubuntu 20” image with edp in the file name. The RKDevTool program is used to flash Linux images and it’s the same procedure as we used with Android […]

September 21, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

AI in a box offline LLM solution leverages Rockchip RK3588S’ NPU (Crowdfunding)

Useful Sensors “AI in a box” LLM (large language model) solution works offline with complete privacy and leverages the NPU in Rockchip RK3588S processor for conversational AI similar to ChatGPT but without an internet connection or registration required. The AI box prototype currently relies on off-the-shelf hardware, specifically the Radxa ROCK 5A SBC with 8GB RAM, housed in a plastic enclosure, and the code relies on open-source models like Whisper speech-to-text model and Llama2 language models. Besides conversational AI where you can interact with the box as if you were talking to a person, the AI in a Box can also be useful for other use cases: Live Captions – The box can display subtitles/closed captions for a live event or help in situations where people have trouble hearing a conversation using the audio input. Live Translation – It can also translate various languages close to real-time. Simply select […]

September 9, 2023September 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Orange Pi Zero 2W – A Raspberry Pi Zero 2W alternative with up to 4GB RAM

As its name implies the Orange Pi Zero 2W is an alternative to the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with basically the same features and form factor, but equipped with a slightly more powerful Allwinner H618 quad-core Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.5 GHz, and more RAM options from 1GB to 4GB. The new Orange Pi board comes with a mini HDMI port, two USB-C ports, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module, a microSD card for the OS, a 16MB SPI flash for the bootloader, the usual 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header, and a 24-pin “function” connector used for expansion boards and located where the camera connector is on the Pi Zero 2W. Orange Pi Zero 2W specifications: SoC – Allwinner H618 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with 1MB L2 cache and Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.0/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1 System Memory – […]

September 8, 2023September 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Libre Computer AML-S905X-CC-V2 SBC directly installs Linux images from the Internet

Libre Computer AML-S905X-CC-V2 “Sweet Potato” is a “new” Amlogic S905X SBC following the Raspberry Pi 3B form factor and that will eventually directly boot Linux images downloaded from the Internet using the Libre Computer OS Tool (LOST). I wrote “new” in quotes because the single board computer is an update to the Potato board (AML-S905X-CC) introduced in 2017 with just a few hardware changes. But that’s because Libre Computer focuses on the software side and all/most of their boards can now run mainline Linux and have support for features such as LOST whose support is set to be implemented by November. Libre Computer AML-S905X-CC-V2 SBC specifications with changes in bold or strikethrough: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with penta-core Arm Mali-450MP GPU, and Amlogic Video Engine 10 VPU System Memory – 2GB DDR4 (OEM can request 1GB) Storage 1x microSD card slot with UHS […]

September 7, 2023September 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Gateworks GW7400 networking SBC features 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports, M.2 & mini PCIe sockets for wireless connectivity

NXP I.MX 8M Networking SBC 6 Ethernet ports

Gateworks Venice GW7400 is a rugged industrial single board computer for networking and gateway applications with six Gigabit Ethernet ports, and one M.2 and three mini PCIe sockets for WiFi, cellular, and other wireless options. We first mentioned the GW7400 board around three years ago, when the company introduced the Venice family powered by NXP i.MX 8M processor. But the board launched today has a different design with more Ethernet, an NXP i.MX8M Plus AI processor, up to 4GB RAM, up to 64GB eMMC flash, and various interfaces such as USB 3.0, dual CAN Bus, DIO, I2C, SPI, and UART. Gateworks GW7400 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz (industrial-grade) Real-time core – Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 800 MHz GPU – Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU VPU – Up to 1080p60 video encoding and decoding AI accelerator […]

September 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

ZimaBlade – A $64+ low-profile Intel Celeron board for server applications and more (Crowdfunding)

ZimaBlade is an inexpensive low-profile board based on an Intel Celeron dual-core or quad-core processor and designed for server applications with a low-profile RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port, two SATA connectors, and a PCIe slot, but not only as the board also comes with display interfaces such as mini DP and USB-C DisplayPort Alt. mode and a few USB ports. It’s not IceWhale Technology’s first venture into portable server board as the company previously introduced the Zimaboard based on Intel Celeron Apollo Lake processors with many of the same features back in 2021. The new ZimaBlade offers more interfaces as well as a complete enclosure instead of just a large heatsink. ZimaBlade specifications: SoC (one or the other) ZimaBlade 3760 – Intel Celeron dual-core processor up to 2.2 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP ZimaBlade 7700 – Intel Celeron quad-core processor up to 2.4 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD […]

August 29, 2023August 29, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Orange Pi Compute Module 4 – A low-cost Rockchip RK3566-powered alternative to Raspberry Pi CM4

Orange Pi Compute Module 4 is a system-on-module mechanically and electrically compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM4, but powered by a Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 AI processor just like the Radxa CM3 introduced a few years ago, or more recently the Banana Pi BPI-CM2 (RK3568). The new module, also called Orange Pi CM4 for shorts, comes with 1GB to 8GB RAM, 8GB to 128GB eMMC flash, and an optional 128/256MBit SPI flash, as well as a Gigabit Ethernet PHY and on-board WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. It comes with the two 100-pin high-density connectors found on the Raspberry Pi CM4, and a smaller 24-pin connector for extra I/Os. Orange Pi Compute Module 4 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU, 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator, 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoding, 1080p100f H.265/H.264 video encoding System Memory – 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or […]